1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle sticker that indicates a particular time-period associated with a vehicle to which such sticker is applied. Such devices may include automobile registration and inspection stickers. The present invention relates more specifically to a vehicle sticker that can monitor the time-period and signal both the impending expiration and expiration thereof.
2. Background Art
To anyone who owns or operates an automobile, or other regulated motor vehicle, there is the responsibility to ensure that such vehicle is titled, licensed, registered, and/or inspected. In the case of vehicle licensure, registration and inspection, a particular time-period may be assigned by a regulatory agency (e.g., a state department of motor vehicles), whereupon its expiration, a renewal or re-inspection is required.
Such regulatory agencies have utilized stickers, plates and tags to indicate on the vehicle, the licensure, registration and inspection status of the vehicle. One drawback of such devices is that they are passive, thus requiring vigilance on the part of the owner/operator and policing authorities to monitor the status of the vehicle. In many cases, the vigilance necessary to ensure the currentness of vehicle status is not exercised. This is due, in part, to the busy and sometimes hectic lives we live. Therefore, there is a need to prompt a vehicle owner or operator, and even the policing authority, to note or monitor the licensure, registration and/or inspection status of a regulated motor vehicle.
The concept of transforming traditionally passive information devices for vehicles, such as signs or license plates, into active devices is not new. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,432,496 to Lin, 5,132,666 to Fahs, 5,105,179 to Smith, and 5,006,829 to Miyamoto et al., all disclose various electronic display devices for automobiles. The devices in the Lin, Fahs and Smith patents display information outside the vehicle, and the device in the Miyamoto et al. patent displays information inside the vehicle. None of these patents, however, perform a dual function of displaying information both inside and outside the vehicle, where such information concerns a particular time-frame or status associated with the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,179 to Smith is specifically directed to an electronic automobile license plate, which also provides an indication that the vehicle registration has expired. However, the device proposed in Smith does not communicate a visual or an audible signal or indication to someone inside the vehicle, to warn of an impending expiration of the registration.
The concept of monitoring a time-period associated with a motor vehicle is also not new. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,285,425 to Morisawa and 4,730,285 to Lie disclose devices which monitor and display parking time. However, both such devices are intended to be fitted in a vehicle so as to be visible only from the outside the vehicle. No provision is made to display information both inside and outside of the vehicle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,829 to Miyamoto et al. (introduced above), the proposed system monitors the mileage of a vehicle, and alerts the operator of an impending scheduled maintenance based on such mileage. However, no provision is made to indicate, from outside the vehicle, that the maintenance period for the vehicle has expired.